(1) Technical Field
The present invention relates to field of optical and radio communications. More specifically, the present invention relates to a mechanism for conditioning a transmission path for free-space optical wireless data communications in adverse weather conditions.
(2) Discussion
Free-space optical wireless (FSOW) links, for example, in the infrared (IR) portion of the spectrum, as well as some directed radio frequency (RF) links, suffer from very high absorption/attenuation/turbulence from water during foggy weather as well as from other molecules present in the atmosphere. As a result, the FSOW link budget requires an extreme power dynamic range to compensate for signal attenuation/degradation and power loss. Often, the available optical power does not have sufficient dynamic range, leading to a loss of signal and link failure.
It is therefore desirable to provide a path conditioning mechanism that can aid in reducing absorption/attenuation/turbulence and other degradation, temporal and spatial, from the transmission path.